A Statistical History of Jamaica’s Performance at the World Athletics Championships…

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An Analysis: Local Based Training v Training abroad

By Dale Brown

NEW YORK. NY. Tuesday, May 19. 2020 -- The first three editions of the World Athletics Championships were held every four years, starting in 1983. However, since the third Championships in 1991, it has been a biennial event. As of the last event held in Doha, Qatar, there have been a total of 17 editions of these Championships.

Jamaica competed in the first-ever World Championships in Athletics were held in Helsinki, Finland 1983. Bert Cameron won the 400m and Merlene Ottey won the first of her ten individual medals by winning silver in the 200m. The women 4x100m relay team also won a bronze medal.

All-Time Medal Table

Jamaica is currently ranked 4th on the all-time medal table list with 127 medals. The countries ahead of Jamaica are the USA with 381 medals, Kenya 151 and Russia 143.
Jamaica is ranked 5th with 35 gold medals behind the USA 170, Kenya 60, Russia 43, and Germany with 38.

Distribution of the Medals


LIGHTNING BOLT. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (second left), 
winning the men’s 100m at the 2009 WC in Berlin,
 Germany, in a new WR 9.58 seconds.
Overall, the women have contributed 79 medals including 55 individual medals (13 Gold) and 24 relay medals (7 gold). The men have won 47 medals with 31 individual medals (11 Gold) and 16 relay medals (4 Gold) The other medal was won by the mixed 4x400 relay team at the 2019 games in Doha.

There is a total of 49 athletes who have won individual medals, 28 women and 21 men.  The most successful athletes winning individual medals have been Usain Bolt with 9 medals (7 gold), Shelly-Ann Fraser -Pryce 5 (5 gold), Merlene Ottey 10 (2 gold), Veronica Campbell – Brown 7 (2 gold).
 

POCKET ROCKET. ShellyAnn Fraser Pryce (right) wins the 
women’s 100m final at the 2019 WC in Doha, 
Qatar, for her fourth WC sprint title. Winning time: 10.71 seconds.

-         contributed
It has been universally accepted that Jamaica rose to the status of a track and field powerhouse at the 2008 Olympics.  It is also accepted that this success is the direct result of home-based training as opposed to the athletes training abroad.  We will now look at Jamaica’s performances during the first 11 editions of the World Championships from 1983 to 2007, and compare them with the next 6 editions.

1983- 2007

Jamaica won 67 medals in the first 11 championships (6.09 medals per championship) to place 5th on the medals table behind the USA 199, Russia 117, Germany 78 and Kenya 73, but found it difficult to mine gold as they were ranked 17th with only 7 gold medals. Closer examination reveals that of Jamaica’s 67 medals (44 by the women and 23 by the men), there were 44 individual medals of which 39 (88.63%) were won by athletes who trained abroad.

Merlene Ottey was by far the most outstanding athlete as she sped her way to 10 individual medals with 2 gold medals in the 200m (1993 and 1995)

2009 – 2019

Jamaica won 60 medals in the next 6 editions (10 medals per game) to place 3rd on the medal table behind the USA 153 and Kenya 78.  Jamaica also won 28 gold medals to also place 3rd behind the USA 59 and Kenya 33.

The women won 35 (14 gold) of the medals while the men accounted for 24 (14 gold), plus there was one mixed relay team medal.  There were 42 individual medals, (25 women and 17 men), of which 33 (78.57%) were won by individuals who trained in Jamaica.

MVP Track Club-trained athletes led the way during this period with 17 individual medals for a 40.47% share of these 42 medals. It is worth noting that MVP women won 13 of the medals for a 30.95% share.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the way with 5 individual medals (5 gold).
Racers Track Club led by Usain Bolts’ 8 individual medals (7 gold), contributed 10 medals for 23.8% share of the medals.

During the last 6 editions, Jamaica has increased its output to an average of 10 medals per championships for a total 60 medals, plus they also have 28 gold medals for an average of well over 4 gold medals won per Championships.

Summary

There is no doubt that Jamaica enjoyed great success over the first 11 championships, but there has been a dramatic shift in the rate at which they are winning medals as evidenced by their performances during the past 6 championships. The difference is the fact that many more athletes are training at home and the coaches are also producing more elite athletes.   

Will they keep up the pace? Will all good things come to an end?
To continue this successful trajectory, we need all the concerned sponsors, administrators , and government to continue to support the clubs, the coaches and the athletes.

--00—

Editor’s note: Dale Brown is a sports historian and co-host of the all sports program SECOND BASE, airing on the Wee Radio Network at; www.weeradioonline.com, Tuesdays, 7 – 8 pm.

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